Emergency Egress
In this unit we explore models and other ways to analyze the safety of a building and evaluate which elements may affect how quickly and safely a space may be evacuated. Among the questions we will ponder are:
StarLogo Nova
Traffic Unit for StarLogo Nova
This unit engages students in the use of agent-based modeling to look into why we have traffic jams and test ideas to try to improve traffic flow, and demonstrates the use of simulation to solve difficult engineering problems. Specifically we focus on the problem of traffic bottleneck congestion. A secondary goal is to further students’ understanding of the network concept as a way to model real world flows of data and matter. An alternative pacing guide, using most of the same off-line activities but different coding challenges, is also attached below.
Sugar Transport Activity
In this activity, we will follow the path of glucose from the digestive system into the bloodstream. Glucose is a type of sugar and an important energy source that is needed by the body’s cells. Carbohydrates such as fruit, bread, and pasta are common sources of glucose. These foods are broken down into glucose, which is then absorbed from the digestive system into the bloodstream and distributed to the rest of the body. As part of the digestive process, the glucose molecules from the food you eat are dissolved into the liquid contents of the small intestine.
Gene Regulation and Protein Synthesis
Every cell in your body has a full set of genes, or ‘recipes,’ to build many different kinds of proteins (including enzymes). Building proteins uses energy and resources. Cells don’t need to build every kind of protein all the time. To conserve energy and resources, the cell’s genes are normally ‘turned off.’ When environmental conditions change, the genes to build the specific proteins the cell needs to respond to those changes are ‘turned on'.
Enzymes: Chew on This!
Enzymes: Chew on This!
Carbohydrates in food are an important source of energy for the body. Starch is a complex carbohydrate (polysaccharide) found in plants like potatoes and grains (rice, wheat, corn, etc.). When you eat starch, it must be broken down into simple sugars, also known as monosaccharides, before your body can use it for energy. To perform the reactions that break down starches into sugars, your body uses enzymes called amylases, which are found in your saliva and small intestine.
Evolution Curriculum from BioGraph
Evolution is a change in genetic information in a population that is observed over many generations. Two important factors contribute to evolution:
genetic drift - a process by which the genetic traits in a population change due to the random chance survival and reproduction of particular individuals; and
natural selection - a process by which individuals with certain genetic traits are more likely to survive and pass on those traits to their offspring, making those traits more common in the population.
Pond Ecosystem Biograph project
Ecosystems are made up of interacting, interdependent parts. Biotic and abiotic (living and non-living) parts of an ecosystem are always interacting with and changing each other. Healthy ecosystems are long-lasting. In a long-lasting ecosystem the number of plants and animals may increase and decrease over time, but there are always enough individuals to reproduce and establish the next generation.
Segregation Model
Background: This is a model of segregation based on an experiment done by a researcher at University of Chicago in the 1950’s named Thomas Schelling. He was looking into how segregated neighborhoods formed. He modeled people’s desire to live in neighborhoods based on the percentage of the neighbors who were the same as they were in the neighborhood. For example, a person might think “I could live in a neighborhood where 50% of the people don’t look like me”.
What are the chances?
The instructions for this activity show a horizontal slider like the one used in Starlogo Nova. This slider allows the user to adjust the button to any number between 0 and 100. Often sliders are used to set an original number of agents or a population at the beginning of a program in setup. When programming an agent-based model, it is often necessary to have randomness and a percent chance that something might happen. For instance, if turtle collides with another turtle, there is a ‘percent chance’ that it will turn orange.
Instructions: